


Ever Clear and Unstained in Your Heart

by alexcat



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, Tolkien - Fandom
Genre: Action/Adventure, M/M, Romance, Third Age
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 21:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5943151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexcat/pseuds/alexcat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Legolas and Gimli find more that they expected on their journeys.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ever Clear and Unstained in Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MangoTea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MangoTea/gifts).



> _"I have looked the last upon that which was fairest," [Gimli] said to Legolas his companion. "Henceforward I will call nothing fair, unless it be her gift." He put his hand to his breast. […] "Alas for Gimli son of Glóin!"_
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>  _"Nay!" said Legolas. "Alas for us all! And for all that walk the world in these after-days. For such is the way of it: to find and lose, as it seems to those whose boat is on the running stream. […] But you have not forsaken your companions, and the least reward that you shall have is that the memory of Lothlórien shall remain ever clear and unstained in your heart, and shall neither fade nor grow stale."_ ~ The Fellowship fo the Ring

Legolas was tired of his father’s interfering ways. Every she-elf he’d ever spoken to in his entire life had been mentioned in the last few months. A good number of them had even been to visit him and his father in recent weeks. 

That was why he’d volunteered to go to Imladris to tell Elrond and Mithrandir that they’d managed to let Sméagol escape. Facing the wrath of a wizard was preferable to having a father who spent his days trying to choose the proper mother for his grandchildren. 

“Son, Elrond has a beautiful daughter, too, you know,” Thranduil said to him as he bowed to his father before loading up his horse and leaving. 

“You want me to court Arwen Evenstar?” He knew his father professed no real fondness for Elrond or any other of the Noldor kin. Thranduil must be desperate for a daughter-in-law. 

Legolas smiled. Unbeknownst to his father, he had met Arwen several times. She traveled a bit between her home and her grandparents’ home in Lothlórien and he had met her a few times as she moved about. He also knew that she was in love with Strider, the Dunedain who had grown up in Imladris.

Oh well, what his father didn’t know…

*

Only after he left Mirkwood did he realize how badly his news about Sméagol was going to be received. Strider had brought the ugly little creature to them for keeping and he’d gotten away with a little help from the Orcs. 

Legolas had been to Imladris a few times before, always with some of this friends. The hidden city was certainly not a deserted one. Peoples of all sorts came to the refuge to live away from the encroaching darkness and Elrond welcomed all, elf or not. This evidently meant Dwarvenkind as well, for at least two of them seemed to be in residence, perhaps for the council. 

Arwen was there with her father when he and his companion arrived. After their initial greeting, Elrond had one of his assistants show Legolas and his companion to their rooms. They were in a suite of rooms beside the Dwarves. Legolas watched them as they walked into their rooms. He couldn’t help but stare.

Dwarves were a rather homely people, he thought as he watched the two dwarves laughing and talking. They favored one another in looks enough that he supposed they were close relatives; father and son, perhaps. _He’d_ certainly never laughed and talked with his own father that way. 

He and Nestadir made themselves comfortable in their rooms, unpacking what little they’d brought and washing the dust from their travels off with the pitcher of water, fragrant soap, and towels left for each of them. 

Nestadir hoped to visit the healing houses of Imladris. As a healer, he was always eager to learn new ways to treat injuries since elves seldom sickened. Elrond and his healers were known all over Middle Earth for their new treatments and their generous sharing of herbs and lore that helped other people as well as elves. 

Legolas heard boisterous laughing from the other side of the wall. 

“Dwarves! They make more noise than a herd of Oliphants,” he said to Nestadir.

His companion laughed. “Your father would be less kind.”  
Perhaps, but he did respect Thorin Oakenshield in the end, you know. He recognized a good warrior and, finally, a good king before the end of that war,” Legolas told him. 

“Your father said I should keep an eye out for a good match for you. He seems to think you should marry soon and obviously, you don’t seem inclined to marry one of the women of the Green Wood.”

“I am not yet three thousand years, Nes. I have plenty of time to marry and produce heirs for my father to be disappointed in.”

“Your father is not disappointed in you, Legolas. He simply finds it hard to speak of his true feelings to one even as close as you are to him.. He has been this way for many years. It is said that his own father was often the same way with Thranduil.” 

There was a tap on their door and a young page handed Legolas a note. “Dinner will be at sunset in the garden. All guests are to attend,” Legolas told Nestadir. 

The dinner was sumptuous, with all manner of vegetables and meats to suit the tastes of any who attended. Huge platters were passed, along with baskets of still warm breads. Wine glasses were never empty the whole evening long. 

After dinner, musicians and singers entertained the gathering. There was much dancing and merrymaking, enough that Legolas and Nestadir were more than a little drunk when the evening ended. They made their way to their rooms and slept the sleep of the innocent. 

Legolas had no idea how much his life would change, beginning the very next day. 

*

The Council met after the noon meal. Legolas had asked to speak to Elrond, Strider, and Mithrandir privately before the meeting. He told them of the escape of Sméagol and how Orcs had orchestrated it. They did not seem to be as upset as he’d feared they would be. 

He was a bit surprised to see Halflings at the meeting. He had never known them to have much interest in the goings-on outside the Shire. They were a happy people who made ale and wine as well as all sorts of foodstuffs. His father sometimes dealt with them, as he loved good food and drink himself. 

His neighbors, the Dwarves, were there. They did indeed look like father and son. He noted that the elder one was one of the Dwarves his father had imprisoned before the battle of the Five Armies. He remembered hearing the name when his father told the story; Glóin and his son Gimli. 

The Council was all about the One Ring. One of the Halflings, Frodo Baggins, had the Ring on a chain about his neck. After what seemed like hours of argument, it was decided that the Ring must be returned to the fires of Mount Doom, as it could only be unmade where it was made. No one wanted to take it until the small Hobbit said he stood and announced that he would volunteer to do the deed himself. 

It was decided that a company of men, elves and dwarves would accompany Frodo to destroy the Ring. Elrond chose them all: Sam, Gandalf, Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, and lastly, Merry and Pippin, for they refused to be left behind. Legolas, knowing his father would be furious, was happy to volunteer for the Fellowship, as they came to be called. 

The group spent several months readying themselves for the journey. Legolas sent word with Nestadir to his father. He was actually quite happy that Thranduil did not show up to take him home. He felt himself looking forward to this journey, though it promised to be lengthy and perhaps very dangerous as well. 

*

It was full winter when the Fellowship finally set out from Imladris. Legolas was glad to finally be moving. Even though they had spent their time well in Imladris, it was past time to be on the road. 

Legolas had struck up an odd relationship with the Dwarf. The Halflings tended to stay together while Boromir and Aragorn had become friends of a kind. Gandalf spent much of his time pouring over maps and documents with Elrond. That left Gimli to be his companion. 

“Elf, shall we train? I am quite expert at throwing this ax but even I can use some extra practice before our journey and I am quite sure you need some practice with that bow.” 

Legolas bristled at the insult but was willing to admit that even he could use something to do besides eat and recheck his pack all day. “Very well, but I am doubtful that your skills are nearly as finely honed as my own.”

And so it began. 

The members of Elrond’s family and the Fellowship ate breakfast together each day and planned their day, as well as talking about their upcoming journey. 

Legolas was surprised to find himself sitting beside Gimli each day, talking to him as if he were another elf. Not having spent much time with anyone but elves, he didn’t know if this was strange or not. He only knew that for a dwarf, Gimli was not such a bad sort. 

He’s never tell Gimli that, though. 

Their journey began on a winter’s morning.

The journey has been chronicled by Frodo himself in the Red Book, but what began then has not. 

Legolas had known little grief in his life. He was not prepared for the sorrow he would see in those around him and even in himself. 

After seeing Gimli’s desolation in Moria, he better understood what his grandfather and father had felt in Doriath when his grandmother had been killed by the Fëanorians. He knew why his father was as he was, why he was so protective and hard on his only son. 

The loss of Mithrandir was almost more than he could bear and Gimli came to him. “Lad, it ‘tis fitting to grieve. Be not ashamed of your tears.” The dwarf had patted him awkwardly on the back. 

On they traveled and Gimli and Legolas began to tease one another. 

“One dwarf with an ax is worth more than ten elves!” Gimli told him as they approached Lothlórien.

“You are wrong! We can kill from afar! You can’t do that with an ax!” 

“Ah, but we have no fear of our enemies. We fight them face to face.” 

“And scare them with your beards!” Legolas was laughing as he said the last.

“But your enemies can’t tell you from a maiden.”

Legolas was still laughing. “Nor can yours, I’m told.” 

In Lothlórien, Legolas was surprised and delighted that Gimli thought the Lady Galadriel so beautiful and that he asked for a single hair as a gift. 

As they left, he asked the dwarf, “What do you think of us now?” 

“The lady is beautiful beyond compare. You are still a gangly boy with hair like a maiden!” But there was only mirth and friendship in the insult. 

After the death of Boromir, the two of them entered Fanghorn Forest in search of Merry and Pippin and found Gandalf the White instead. Legolas loved the old forest and hoped he could return to explore it in depth one day. 

They made a bet at Helm’s Deep on who had the most kills and Legolas was sure Gimli, himself, had been killed when he became trapped in the Glittering Caves. He’d never felt such relief as he did when Gimli came out of the caves as they burned Orcs and buried the dead. 

“Lad, the caves are more beautiful than any I’ve seen. I should like to explore them one day.” Gimli said. “Oh, and I won the bet.”

The two accompanied Aragorn to the Paths of the Dead, both terrified of the place, but the Dead agreed to aid Aragorn and finally fulfill their oath. Aragorn would then free their souls  
from the curse. 

The battle of Pelennor Fields was already raging when they joined it with their contingent of the Dead. Many joined the dead that day as well, many of all sides, even Théoden, King of Rohan. After Gondor was won, it remained to take the war to Sauron himself and when all seemed lost, the creature Gollum and the One Ring fell into the Crack of Doom and thus ended the quest of the Fellowship. 

The one Ring was destroyed and Sauron vanquished. 

*

With the crowning of the new king and wedding of King Elessar and Queen Arwen, it was time to move on.  
"Come, Gimli!" said Legolas. "Now by Fangorn's leave I will visit the deep places of the Entwood and see such trees as are nowhere else to be found in Middle-earth. You shall come with me and keep your word; and thus we will journey on together to our own lands in Mirkwood and beyond." To this Gimli agreed, though with no great delight, it seemed.*  
He was more enthusiastic when Legolas reminded him that once they’d explored Fangorn, he would go with Gimli to the Glittering Caves.  
So they set out.  
The forest was vast and deep though not nearly as large as it had been before Men and Orcs had encroached on it and cut many trees for their own purposes. It had already begun to turn back into a wild green forest by the time Gimli and Legolas came to it. The darkness was gone and replaced by dappled sunlight and green undergrowth.  
“Is the forest not beautiful?” Legolas asked as they made a small camp.  
Gimli grunted in reply.  
Legolas had killed a pair of rabbits for their dinner. He made a small fire and spitted them over it as he poured water from his pouch into a small kettle for tea.  
“We could be sitting down to roasted boar if we were in the caves of my people.” 

Legolas smiled at him. “We will, my dear Dwarf, we will.”

Legolas had never felt as free as he did here in the forest. His father was so far removed from this place, it was almost as if he’d been a dream in another life. The wars were done and gone were the threats to them and to the forest. For the first time in his life, he felt unencumbered by fear or danger. 

After dinner was done, Legolas did something he’d refrained from doing during their previous travels. He removed his clothes and made his way to the banks of the Anduin. He dove in and swam as if he’d been born to the water, swimming until he felt a languid tiredness overcome him. 

When he was done, he walked naked and sat by the campfire, letting its warmth dry his body and his curtain of golden hair.

“Dwarves do not parade about naked, lad. We are naked only when were are born and on the rare occasion that we bathe.”

Legolas laughed. “Perhaps a bath is not a bad thing.”

Gimli grunted, turned his attention to his bedroll and was snoring in moments. Legolas laughed softly so as not to wake him and brushed his hair by the fire until it was dry. He lay down on his own bedroll and was asleep in seconds as well. 

Fangorn was still a massive forest and they wandered wherever the day took them. There were paths made by deer and other wildlife but very few signs of men, elves or dwarves. It was everything the Green Wood had been when he was a child. He had wandered in the forest with his mother and his father for days that seemed to last forever. They’d slept in clearings and watched the starry sky, his father telling him stories of how they came to be. Legolas recounted the stories to Gimli, who, in turn, told the tales of his own people. 

Gimli smiled when Legolas made a crown of honeysuckle vines for himself. He grunted when Legolas made one for him, too, but he wore it nonetheless. 

One morning when Legolas was swimming in a lake they’d found, he surfaced to see Gimli awkwardly dogpaddling his way out into the lake. Legolas gracefully swam away and surfaced, laughing as he allowed Gimli to catch him and dunk him beneath the water. 

“Water is not such a bad thing,” Gimli admitted later, as they dried off and dressed.

Very late one night, Legolas thought about his father wanting him to find a wife and have some children. He watched Gimli sleep and knew that it would never happen. He wasn’t sure exactly how he felt about Gimli, but he did know that he’d never been as fond of anyone before. He wondered how Gimli felt about him. 

A day came that Legolas knew it was time to go to the Glittering Caves. Gimli had complained little after they’d arrived in the wood and Legolas owed him the same courtesy. 

“I think we should go today, head for those caves.” 

Gimli looked a bit surprised, but he smiled and nodded. He hummed to himself as he made ready to travel. 

*

The Glittering Caves were a true wonder hidden behind Helm’s Deep. Gimli thought they were as beautiful as Legolas did the forest. The caves were massive with tunnels and pathways all through the mountains. They were as perfect as any Gimli had ever seen. He could imagine bringing others of his people here to live and work. There were gems and ores aplenty and the place was a natural fortress. 

Legolas and Gimli set their camp up in a large chamber with high glittering ceilings and the sounds of a fresh water spring nearby. 

“Lad, this is where I want to stay for the rest of my life. I will ask my people if any of them would like to come here to live. The caves are so vast that we could mine here forever and not destroy any of the beauty you see.” 

Legolas realized that it was very important to him that Gimli be happy. 

Months later, they left the Glittering Caves and headed back to Gondor, to Minas Tirith to visit the king and his queen. The queen was already expecting her first child and Elessar was beside himself with joy. 

They stayed until Eldarion was born. There was much celebrating in the city. A new prince was born to the ruling house of Gondor. New and better days had come finally to the kingdom of men. 

Both elf and dwarf decided to leave at about the same time. They decided to travel together, first to Legolas’ home. It had been a very long time since he’d seen his father and he longed to look upon him once more. Gimli had heard stories all his life of the woodland king and he wished to see him in person.

“I must see the elf who put my father and Balin in a cell. They all told of him for many years after; perhaps they still do. This way, I shall have some tales of my own for them when I go home.”

Legolas felt a pang in his heart at Gimli’s words. He did not want Gimli to leave and go home. He wanted to roam more of the byways of Middle Earth with him. He wanted to spend his life with Gimli. 

He said nothing.

Yet. 

*

They headed for the Green Wood. “It has perhaps overcome the darkness by now,” Legolas told Gimli on their first night of the journey. 

They camped and traveled at a leisurely pace, both acting as if they needed to say something but neither one saying it. Legolas was lying in the grass on the side of a hill one starlit night when Gimli sat down beside him. 

Legolas started to speak but fell silent when Gimli touched his hair, running a hand through it gently. “Your hair is like spun sunlight.” 

Legolas didn’t move, shocked and delighted with both Gimli’s action and his words. His shock deepened when he felt that same hand move down to his shoulder and squeeze it gently, the touch of a lover… almost. 

Gimli continued. “There is only one fairer than you and she has moved beyond my sight.” The hand moved to his face, caressing his cheek ever so fleetingly as Legolas raised his own hand to cover Gimli’s. He moved the dwarf’s rough hand to his lips and kissed the calloused palm. 

The sun found the two of them still lying on the hillside, entangled and naked as the new day dawned. 

Little else changed. They traveled and talked, telling stories and sharing jokes about the world around them. But at night, when no one was around, they learned passion and love beneath the starlit sky. 

Too soon, they arrived in Legolas’ home. 

Thranduil welcomed his son home with a banquet. Legolas was glad to see his father again, not realizing how much he’d missed his home. 

His father was not nearly as happy to see a dwarf. “Why did you bring him here?” 

“He is my companion and we have explored the land together since the war ended and Elessar was named king. I brought him to meet you. We shall visit his people in Erebor when we leave here.”

“So you have not come home to stay?” Thranduil asked him. 

“I fear not. I also would ask if any would like to live in the south?” 

Thranduil nodded. The number of elves had decreased dramatically since the war had ended and many had sailed. His people were less affected than many but even they were on the decrease. He wanted his people to be happy and their location was not important to him. 

“I believe they could help make the land beautiful there again,” Legolas told his father.

Thranduil said nothing for a moment. “Will the dwarf go with you?”

“I know not. We have not talked of this yet.” 

Thranduil looked at them both hard, understanding what was not said as well as what was. He was not happy with it, but Legolas would do as he would this time. He could not and would not demand his son stay. 

At the banquet, Gimli produced a large sparkling emerald from his pocket and presented it to Thranduil. “I would give you a gift from the Glittering Caves where we fought and where I hope to dwell soon with my people. I shall send mithril to set it for you when we have mined the ore.” 

Thranduil graciously took the gift and smiled at the dwarf. “I knew some dwarves once…” he began and almost laughed out loud when he found out that one of them had been Gimli’s father. He would never love dwarves but he would tolerate this one for his son. 

Legolas and Gimli abided in the Green Wood for several days then headed to Erebor under the Lonely Mountain. The dwarves there had taken many casualties in the war, but the kingdom held and was doing well, prospering in the rebuilding of the land. Gimli offered them work to help rebuild Gondor as well and he spoke to his kinsmen of how he wanted to set up a colony in the Glittering Caves.

Upon their return to the south, they began the work to bring both an elven and dwarven colony with them and within a few months, the first new settlers began to arrive, elves to Ithilien and dwarves to the Glittering Caves. 

Legolas and Gimli lived with their respective people though each traveled often to visit the other or to go on another one of their long explorations of the woods and the deep caves of the land. Both of them visited the king and queen as often as they could and both mourned the day the great king passed into legend. They grieved to see Queen Arwen waste away, so lost without Elessar. Gimli and Legolas were there the day her brothers laid her body to rest at Cerin Amroth.

Legolas began to build a small ship in Ithilien, near to the river. 

Gimli said nothing for quite some time. Finally he could hold his tongue no longer. “Where are you going with that ship?”

Legolas bit his lips and looked off as if he could see the Undying Lands from where he stood. “I shall answer the call of the Sea. It gets stronger every day and since Arwen has finally passed, I must go.” 

“Then you would leave me?” Gimli looked as grieved as he sounded. 

“Only if you will not come with me.” 

Gimli seemed to think on it for a bit. “I might just do that, lad. It would give me a chance to see the Lady once again.”

“Is that the only reason?” Legolas asked him with a gentle smile. 

Gimli looked offended. “Of course it is! Why else would I go where there are elves as far as I could see?” 

Legolas dropped to his knees and kissed the dwarf. “Why indeed?” 

 

~end~

 

* _Return of the King_ : Chapter VI - Many Partings

**Author's Note:**

> Most of this story that is canon comes from book rather than movie. It is hard to tell a tale that covers so much ground without a lot of retelling and for that, I apologize but I do hope that the love story shines through. Legolas and Gimli really are my OTP in Tolkien. 
> 
> Thanks to Outercorner for the last minute beta. I know my lack of commas drove you crazy so thanks for putting up with me!


End file.
